Show #098: Cucumbers Altogether

The ninety-eighthrdst episode of our podcast, Paul and Storm Talk About Some Stuff for Five to Ten Minutes (On Average), is now online.

This week’s episode: We solicit ideas for possible special things to do (or not to do) for podcast #100; we reflect on Acknowledgement Day; a technology deprivation challenge devolves (evolves?) into a discussion of nougat and candy corn; Storm hates cucumbers; the etymology of “cool;” hipster disdain; Storm’s schoolday troubles with a cartoon collection; we recommend some Mamet films and Dr. Demento; and things w00tstockical are discussed.

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION ALERT: Is there anything you think we should to do mark our 100th podcast? Also, what technology would you choose to do without?

Do it with video and at least one live performance of something out of your portfolio. Maybe premiere some new material that I’m sure you’ve been working on? Also special guests if at all possible. Like messrs. Savage, Wheaton and the Coulton discussing their deep and abiding love for your many many podcastery offerings, for instance.

That is what I’d like. Also if unicorns could be real, that would be pretty great.

I would happily do without any sort of technology “exclusively” purchasable on home shopping networks.

Technology-wise, I’m tempted to deprive myself (and the world) of umbrellas. Walking in an urban area when it’s raining I’m constantly afraid of getting my eye poked out by people with over-sized umbrellas that the user is not paying attention to the edges of. Plus, a reasonable umbrella doesn’t keep your legs dry. We can use hats, coats, and ponchos to fill the void.

Another Josh: I’m right there with you on umbrellas, especially in urban areas (i.e. mazes of wind tunnels) with mass transit.

That said, the technology I’d gladly do without is voicemail. If I can’t / don’t want to talk to someone when they call, I usually don’t want to listen to their recorded ramblings. If I can’t get ahold of someone and it’s important for me to talk to them, I’ll call back (unless they see my name on caller ID and beat me to it).

I think the disdain for hipsters among geeks/nerds is mainly due to differences in enthusiasm. Geeks tend to be exuberant in our enjoyment of whatever it is we’re enjoying — games, gadgets, books, what have you — and want to share the fun with the people around us, whereas hipsters tend to denigrate the things they enjoy once other people start to notice and enjoy them, lest said hipsters be caught liking things that have entered “mainstream” culture. Honestly, being a hipster just sounds like a lot of work finding the-next-big-thing before it actually becomes the-next-big-thing, only to have to discard it once other people find out it’s cool. What good is finding cool stuff if you can’t share the coolness with your friends?

Robin – it isn’t about sharing the coolness with friends. Friends are fine. It’s about sharing coolness with the other 99% of stupid dumbfucks out there. Plus, when something becomes “mainstream” it by necessity gets dumbed down for the aforementioned stupid dumbfucks.

Example: Shakira. Shakira used to sing in Spanish. Shakira used to write all of her own lyrics – in Spanish. Shakira used to arrange all of her own music. And it was good. It was clever. She was smart. And then some American recording-industry person noticed the half-Latina/half-Arab chick with the unusual voice. And what happened? She went “mainstream,” started singing in English, and all of a sudden, she sucked.

Why? Because popularity in the “mainstream” in this country requires catering to the lowest common denominator, which, in this country – sadly – is pretty low.

Because I am a word nerd, I took your discussion of the etymology of ‘cool’ as a challenge. So:

RE: ‘Cool’ as a general term of approval: Some say it originated in the 1930s with jazz saxophonist Lester Young. The Oxford English Dictionary also associates it with jazz, but focuses on the late 1940s (particularly Charlie Parker). It references a 1947 New Yorker article (also about jazz).

Also, The Beatles didn’t technically invent the word gear to mean something cool. It had actually been a slang word with the same meaning dating back to the 1920s. It was used slightly differently, but the sentiment was the same.

There. Now you guys don’t have to do any research.

One of my favorite podcast moments: the drunken podcast in Neil Gaiman’s sauna. (And, no I don’t say that because it was my tweet that encouraged it. )

I think in honor of 100 shows, The Puppet should make another appearance. On the actual podcast, I think you could either look back at some of your favorite moments OR just ignore the whole occasion and treat it like a regular episode.